Spinach and you
 

do you like it? were you forced to eat it as a child and hate it? how do you cook it?

As a kid, spinach was either well stewed, and served with vinegar and onion and egg to sprinkle on it (which I like); or creamed (which I loathe!). I've never heard or seen of the vinegar presentation elsewhere--I wonder if it was a generational thing or what.

Many more options these days for this wonder food. I don't like it raw at all, but I do like it sauteed with garlic. yum. it's good as a base for eggs like that.

I've always questioned the recommendation to fill your sink with water to clean fresh spinach. My sink is never clean enough for that. But I can use a big bowl.

When Hebe (our first baby) first started on solid food, we added spinach to almost everything, trying to get that veggie vibe going.... Great, except she soon refused to eat anything without spinach added. :lol:

Yes, I like spinach. Needs to be young, fresh and not overcooked. Raw is fine too. I did not like it as a child, but it was rarely on the menu, so that was OK.

I went to a private school for Kinder through 2nd grade that served it at least once a week, plain and stewed to death. This being a private school, they could and did make every child take at least 2 bites of every food served, including the spinach. There was one kid named Tom who absolutely loved it for some reason, so after we all took our 2 bites, we were allowed to give the rest to him. Never was a big fan of it raw, either. I prefer other greens.

I'll eat it raw in a salad, but won't eat it cooked unless it's well hidden. I've hated it ever since I was forced to eat it as kid.

I had spinach in many forms as a kid, and I like it OK as an adult.

The main complaint I have with it is the stemmy part. If I buy it raw, I'll go to the trouble of removing more stem area than usual. I also have this complaint with romaine.

I Luvs me some spinich , unless its cooked to DEATH !!
Raw is best , But cooked with garlic and butter rules as well .
I was a weird kid , i liked Most all veggies , cept brussle sprouts

ha! such a range of preferences

I wilt it and then blend it with olive oil, pine nuts, garlic, and asiago into a pretty good pesto to go over noodles.

In the raw. It should be against the law to cook the stuff and a crime to feed it cooked to kids.

ugh. it's terrible raw. like eating leaves.

oh, wait . . .

I see Toad's point here; the stems sometimes go bitter in older spinach.

I am not sure it is generational. Mom about always got us fresh spinach or frozen, and it was simply steamed, as spinach doesn't need but a minute or so of cooking -- if you want the spinach to be hot. Served always with butter, salt, pepper, and vinegar. Essential, that vinegar, though the butter sure helped with feeding the kids.

I was one of those oddball kids that liked canned spinach, for different reasons than I liked fresh. Sure, it tasted pretty olive drab, but it was a pretty good olive drab, particularly with butter, salt and pepper. Seeing a pattern?

Haven't eaten canned spinach in over thirty-five years. Not particularly planning to go buy any.

As an adult, I mainly consume it in salad, and quite like creamed spinach that actually tastes like something -- preferably of its cheese topping, spinach, and the creamish stuff.

And of course, the Joe's Special: spinach, onions, ground beef scrambled in profusion with eggs, and abundant black pepper but just a dash of salt.

We like spinach in this house - there're some great ideas here fore serving it. I'd never heard of the vinegar thing but we'll give it a go!

I didn't like it as a kid. Now I do. I like to add it to butter chicken which I usually make with tofu. I cheat a bit though as I use the stuff that comes frozen in blocks so you just stir it in and wait til it's heated through.

My mom had this spinach pie she would make when I was a kid. You take a pre-made crust, pour a bag of frozen brussel sprouts into it, and then heat up a box of frozen spinach, mix it with a couple of eggs, and dump that over the brussel sprouts. Bake. There were probably a couple other ingredients in there too, but that's all I could recognize as a kid being forced to eat it.

I not only had to try it, I was forced to clean my plate, under threat of and actual corporal punishment. So spinach, and especial brussel sprouts, are not my favorite.

Has the statute of limitations run out for you to sue your parents?
;)

Even now, the smell of Brussel sprouts cooking is enough to make me gag.

Amen.

Spinach I never minded, uncharacteristically since I hated just about anything green in food. I mean the cooked kind with a bit of vinegar. I didn't really like it, but I could force it down, and got used to it. Brussels sprouts or asparagus? never.

I NEVER had spinach as a child.
I didn't even realise it was a real product when watching Popeye cartoons.

I was introduced to it as an adult and yes, it's fine.
Not a favourite - when cooked it can be slimey - but I would eat it if it's on my plate.
I prefer it raw.
I prefer rocket to either, though. (arugala?)

I love spinach now. Hated it as a kid.

I regularly have it raw or steamed (or do I mean wilted?). A lot of times I'll open a package of chopped frozen to throw into a bowl of soup or curry.

Spanakopita and palak paneer are two of my favorite dishes. They are very rich, and I never make them myself.

A neighbor makes delicious spinach balls. I'm not sure what the other ingredients are, so I don't know how much of their deliciousness is attributable to the spinach.

Other than that, I'm pretty ambivalent on spinach.

We have a lot of spinach in our house. Mostly baby spinach which goes into salads, or steamed and served under eggs (benedict), cooked into spanikopita, in soups. I don't recall ever just cooking it and serving a pile on the plate though. It's how I had it as a kid (a lot) and I couldn't stand it, but like glatt, was forced to eat it.

There's a really yummy spinach dip you can make too which you serve in a cleaned out cob loaf.

Spinach Artichoke dip is the biz..... (as long as they don't stick red peppers in it)

Yep, arugula.

The thing about Brussels sprouts is that too many people overcook them, and that brings up the objectionable bitter-sulphurous-compounds taste. Don't overdo -- keep 'em blanched-green! And like any cabbage, drizzle with a favorite olive oil at the table. We never had our Alien Heads any other way.

If you really want them to look like little green alien heads, cut slanted slits and insert wedges of black olives into the slits. Anoint with olive oil and serve -- particularly effective with the Calvins of the dinner table.

Perry W, might as well think wilted, as the steaming of spinach is so brief, and *Wilted Spinach* is reliably not overcooked, but still hot enough to melt a bit of butter onto. Or in the pot. A toss in there with olive oil for the non-dairy or unsaturated set.

*chuckles*

I used to say garbanzo beans (chickpeas to some) look like embryo heads. But I luvzzzzzz some G-beans, and by extension, hummus. :)

fify

When my brother was 7 or so, he decided that Popeye had it right, and he began demanding canned spinach from mom. Mom knew he'd hate it, but after so much pestering, she finally bought a can and served it to him.

Of course, he hated it.

Me? I never cared for spinach the way it used to be prepared (canned or frozen, and cooked to death), and frankly never knew that spinach could (SHOULD) be eaten raw. Seriously - never ever saw or ate it raw as a kid, I guess people just didn't know better back in the day. (?) As an adult, I've remedied that little problem - I LOVE fresh spinach in a salad and eat it often. Still can't take the cooked stuff, though.

Raw peas. Can't beat 'em.

I used to put peas straight from the field into the sheller at my HS/college job, to pack up in baggies for sale as shelled peas. I also would eat a bag as if they were potato chips. We would also shell for u-pick people but I didn't get to eat those!

This summer I WILL remember to get to the farm during pea season and get some before it's too late. They're like nature's candy.

and after raw peas are frozen peas. they are teh awesome.

raw peas are . . . appealing?

Try some fresh out of the garden sometime, Cloud. Really, I was surprised. They're really good.

Maybe you have to like peas to start with, and I do.

Never tried frozen.

they are so yummy. sweet and juicy. Really? You've never tried them? We grow peas, they never make it to the stove....

Sure you can, if you've got a Kitchen-Aid mixer. :)

I Got Smashed
In A KitchenAid Trash Compactor

(actual shirt given to me by my grandpa who was a machinist for Hobart (kitchenaid)

I love snow peas straight from the garden. We usually grow them, and occasionally they might make it to a salad, but never a stir fry as they're intended.

Oh yeah snowpeas fresh are the yum too. I like them in salad.

Is that the same thing as yellow snow? I thought you weren't supposed to eat that.

Zappa never tried it!